The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1887-05-27


emoisclle, your bank note u good. II
retains three numbers. only one Il
missing. but you yourself must take Il
70 the Bank Of France and explain the
circumstances.
"Where Is. then. the Bank ol
francew ] inquired. You know I
thought Il might be Il Orleans, or
somewhere nearer the center Of the
countrk Or II might be kept. for rea-
sons Of state, In 81. Petersburg. The
good people assured me IL was in
Paris. and quite easy to find. only they
didn't know where.
Then said: II am afraid they will
make me say something do not know
how TO say in French" Whereat they
aboundcd in compliments upon my
progress In their tongue.
climbed one stair, consulted Bae-
deker and the Plan. and went forth
with my torn note.
The Bank Of France ID tucked away
In the midst Of network Of crooked
little streets like those 81 the north
end Of Boston. After wiggling in
them for some time ! found myself In
the Place des Victories which Is
circular. with IN equestrian statue Of
Louis XIV. in Roman costume with a
wig. The horse is prancing on his
tail and hind legs. which support the
whole. Louis is riding directly into
the bank. This Is an imposing build
ing. the ancient Hotel de Ia Briltiere.
Guards marched to and fro before the
iron gate Of entrance; they let me 60
| in with the resigned Indifference with
which Frenchmen now regard any con-
duct Of the emancipated American
women. The concierge. however, po-
litely inquired what in the world
tempted me to think Of crossing the
great courtyard. had neat little
French sentence carefully parsed and
corrected in my mind. all ready for
him.
Sir" said !. lit y the affair Of =
bank note torn"
"Ah." said he. s'the affair Of bank
note! Then you must not come in
here. but 60 round to the other en-
trance on Cross-of-the little Fields
| street"
This relieved me great deal. for
thought il there was an entrance
wholly dedicated to torn bank notes
my case could not be 50 very alarm
ingly exceptional. He added: "Yor
must ask for the bureau de Ia compta
bilite des billets."
Trying 10 keep this long term in my
head. went round to the other en-
trance. and found myself in large
court. Swinging glass doors led to I
huge hall with broad marble stairs
leading up to endless Offices and de
partments. Inquiring my way o
many obliging gentlemen in darl
green liveries. l reached a coy little
room like lawyers office. Here
friendly man at desk heard my tale
looking At the note. and repeated tn
cheering statement The note !
good" This gave me courage to sa'
that supposed il was not the only in
stance Of the kind.
Regard. madame" said he, sns
showed me. laid out carefully. each Of
piece Of white paper. little pile Q
bank notes. burnt 70 the crisp. not |
trace ~ any lettering or number lief
on them.
"You can not identify these" Isaid
I'VE seek to-" he replied, with shrug
These are but specimens Of some thou
sands Of francs lately destroyed by fir
at Bordeaux.
He then asked II were married, ans
on my confcssing myself mademoisell'
he began TO write on a blank my name
station and address. He asked tn
circumstances as doctor asks tn
symptoms. As told them he wrot
them down on the blank. and thcl
read me what he had written. Gas
Of note torn through inadvertence
placed in a small sack. the other con
tents made hole in the bill; impossi
BILE to preserve the fragments"
Il This signed. and Of course. CAV
| 10 Hill TIT viitct W uNt4ut.
| Now. mademoisellc." he said, 'yo'
will have your note. However. som
delay Is necessary. This Is now tn
Friday. On the Monday. or perhap
later. since Sunday intcrvcnes, you viii
receive at your address letter from
the Bank Of France. With that lette
you will return here, and you will r.
ceive your note. Bon Jour, mademol
sellc." bon jour, monsieur" an
''bon Jour- all the way down stairs an
ont Of the building to and from ever
body l met
4 Days rolled on and received no lei
ter. I thought perhaps = paterna
French Government had need Of m
twenty dollars. But one day when
went into the conciergcrie to pet tn
cats. Marie handed me a great cnvc'
opc. stamped Banque de Ia France
ComptabiIite des Billets. addresse
'sMademoiselle Hale Suxan. Rantiere. /
Rue a Alger. Paris" It was all printe
inside. with blanks for name and nd
dress, and said that, considering on
thing and another. might have nc'